HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray — Page 5

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Disney endorsement deadlocks disc format war
The Asahi Shimbun

The Walt Disney Co.'s endorsement Wednesday of the Blu-ray technology has increased the possibility that consumers, electronics manufacturers or both will be the real losers of the format war over next-generation video discs.

Disney's decision to release video on Blu-ray discs almost evenly divides U.S. movie studios into two groupings.

Disney joined Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. in support of the Blu-ray format promoted by Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.

Together, the four studios accounted for an estimated 47 percent of DVD sales in the United States during the first six months of this year.

Last week, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., New Line Cinema Corp., Universal Studios Inc. and Paramount Pictures Corp., which hold a combined 45-percent market share, announced that they will produce video in the HD-DVD format, a technology pushed by Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. that is incompatible with Blu-ray.

Disney's announcement has all but eliminated any incentive for developers to explore a compromise before a number of players and recorders hit the market next year, analysts say.

A two-way split will result in a much-feared replay of the classic VHS-Betamax showdown in the videocassette recorder market, which left some consumers with a vast library of unusable Beta videos.

Electronics manufacturers could also pay dearly.

Consumers have few reasons to hurry their decision on which of the competing standards to choose, particularly because many are believed to be content with current-generation DVDs.

Next-generation DVDs such as Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs may wind up being high-end products that will never become mainstream, analysts say.

The lobbying of electronics manufacturers in Tinseltown is also far from over.

Warner, Disney and Twentieth Century Fox, aware of the risks of betting on a losing horse, have all refused to rule out the possibility they may release videos in the competing format.

``The battleground has entirely shifted to Hollywood,' said an executive of a Japanese company that backs Blu-ray.

Engineers are wary of the growing clout of U.S. movie studios, which, as the dominant content providers, hold a vital vote in the format war.

``Key development principles may be sacrificed if (companies) go all out to win the backing of studios,' said an official in charge of technological development at an electronics manufacturer.

Some industry officials even speculate that by not giving a definitive advantage to either standard, the Hollywood studios may be trying to delay the introduction of next-generation discs, which call for huge capital investments.(IHT/Asahi: December 11,2004)

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Some interesting news on the HD format war front this week. One of the founding members of the Blu-ray Disc Association, Thomson Consumer Electronics (RCA, GE, Proscan) has announced that they intend to support both the Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD formats. This is important, because it's manufacturers that support both formats that ultimately MAY produce actual hardware (combo players) that work with both formats. You can click here for more on this.

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Originally posted by: Patrick R.
Thanks for the articles. Dinsey actually signed a non-exclusive deal with Blu-Ray, so I think they will release titles on both formats.

I just think both sides should put aside their differences and make machines that play both formats and be done with it. Greed will be their downfall though.

Patrick

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Originally posted by: GundarkHunter
Don't get me started on Eisner et al, ADM. Have you ever read, "Keys to the Kingdom: How Disney's Michael Eisner Lost His Grip"? It's not entirely accurate, but is still a fascinating read.

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Well folks, this DVD format war is for real. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, Electronic Arts, Vivendi Universal Games, Sun Microsystems and Texas Instruments pledged their allegiance to Blu-ray Disc format. [article 1

Oh, but that's not all. It gets even more serious. At the HD-DVD presentation at CES today, Toshiba, NEC and Sanyo Electric all said that HD-DVD players will be available to consumers in the U.S. starting as early as September. Thomson Consumer Electronics was announced as the newest member of the HD-DVD group. What's more, Warner, Universal and Paramount together announced some 89 titles that will be available on HD-DVD in time for the format's 4th Qtr launch. Warner and its affiliates (New Line, HBO) alone will release some 50 titles (click here for another story on this). [article 2 [article 3

Here's the COMPLETE list of titles announced today:

Paramount HD-DVD

New Titles - The Manchurian Candidate, Spongebob Squarepants, Elizabethtown, Coach Carter, The Italian Job, School of Rock, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Catalog Titles - Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Ghost, Grease, Mission Impossible 2, Black Rain, Save the Last Dance, Sleepy Hollow, U2: Rattle and Hum, Vanilla Sky, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Star Trek: First Contact, We Were Soldiers

Universal HD-DVD

New Titles - The Bourne Supremacy, The Chronicles of Riddick, Van Helsing

Catalog Titles - Apollo 13, U-571, 12 Monkeys, Dune, The Thing, End of Days, Backdraft, Waterworld, The Bone Collector, Spy Game, Pitch Black, Conan the Barbarian, Dante's Peak

Warner Bros/HBO/New Line HD-DVD

New & Catalog Titles - Above the Law, Alexander, Angels in America (HBO), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (New Line), Batman Begins, Blade (New Line), Catwoman, Contact, Constantine, Charley and the Chocolate Factory, Dark City (New Line), The Dukes of Hazzard, Eraser, Executive Decision, Final Destination (New Line), Friday (New Line), From the Earth to the Moon (HBO), The Fugitive, Gothika, Hard to Kill, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, House of Wax (2005), The Last Samurai, The Mask (New Line), The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Maverick, Million Dollar Baby, The Music Man, Mystic River, Next of Kin, North by Northwest, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Passenger 57, The Perfect Storm, The Phantom of the Opera (2004), The Player (New Line), The Polar Express, Red Planet, Rush Hour (New Line), Se7en (New Line), Soldier, The Sopranos (HBO), Spawn (New Line), Swordfish, Troy, Under Siege, U.S. Marshals, Wild Wild West

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Originally posted by: Bossk
Dazed and Confused?

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